DARKNESS is the price
by 3DBABE1999
Summary: Re-post(ish) of my story "Untitled Supernatural Fic." with a title and a few *tiny* changes... WARNING: SPOILERS for ALL of Season 9 (including The Finale), please remember that I posted the original WAY back in February in between Episodes 13 & 14 "The Purge." & "Captives." & keep in mind that I only changed only a couple of very *tiny* minor details, like an adversary's name...


"DARKNESS is the price."

A/N: This is a repost of my story "Untitled Supernatural Fic." And I posted it a while back and promised to let my readers help give it an actual title… Well, a reader and I had a nice online chat through PM's and I decided to finally to give this a title.. Everything else, is the same as the original Post, except this Author's Note and the fact that I tinkered with just a couple of very *tiny* details of the original story (that you will have to read in order to know what *tiny* details changed), and Original Author's Notes and this will have more Chapters while the original one won't…

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A/N:… Okay… So this idea just came to me… And when it did… It ripped my still beating heart out and stomped on it a few times, shattering it to bloody little bits… Then it put it all back together and stuffed it back in, so here I am with my pretty little broken heart, writing this for all of you... I hadn't thought of a title to this until recently and I asked readers to chime in with suggestions, so I'd like to thank everyone who PM'd me with various title ideas.

A/N:… WARNINGS: Definite SPOILERS for all of Season 9 (Including possible SPOILERS for Season 9 Finale.) so far and possible future Episodes…

A/N: So… I keep thinking about 'The Mark of Cain' and what the 'price' or 'heavy burden' that comes with it might be… And I know I'm not the only person out there who thinks the price might end up being that Dean will somehow be forced to kill Sam whether Dean wants to or not… Ever since getting 'The Mark' Dean has been all gung ho on wanting to kill 'all things monsterous' even if it's something that hasn't necessarily hurt or killed anyone (I.E… Garth's new Werewolf wifey and In-Laws, and the female 'Fat-Vampire', from Episode 13 of this Season, who hadn't ever hurt anyone..) and he's also been getting a bit more aggressive and lethal with his fighting prowess lately… Not saying that Badasss!Dean is necessarily a bad thing (Because it's seriously HOT… Just sayin), but I do have a feeling that 'The Mark' is having a few effects on Dean and I think those effects are making him more aggressive, I think it's making him WANT to kill and I think those same effects are heightening his accuracy and lethality with weaponry and combat skills…. And I think those effects will eventually lead to making Dean feel the NEED to kill SAM, one because Sam's not exactly 'human' he's had demon blood in him since he was six months old and Sam has pulled some seriously shady crap in the past that Dean obviously still isn't over yet (because if he was he wouldn't have dredged it all up right before Sam went into the church to confess all of his sins to purify his blood in preparation for the Third Trial), plus Sam is his BROTHER and I think that like Cain had to kill his brother Able, I believe 'The Mark' will drive Dean or force Dean to kill Sam (or try to… hehehe *winks*)…. ANYWAY… So from all those thought stemmed this beautiful idea… You guys all surely remember the heart-wrenching moment in 'Swan Song.' where Lucifer was beating Dean bloody and Dean was all like "It's okay, Sammy. I'm here. I'm not gonna leave you."… and Sam, he saw the little 'green Army man' in the ashtray and got all of those flashes of his life with DEAN that helped him overpower Lucifer long enough to make Lucifer stop beating the crap out of Dean (thus saving Dean's life… for all those who would accuse Sam of not caring about Dean… Please re-watch the Season Finale of Season 5, and you will realize that, he DOES care about Dean and if you still have your doubts that Sam cares about Dean then please watch or re-watch Season 3 'Mystery Spot.' and the Season 3 Finale… There is no denying that Dean is practically Sam's whole world and vice versa… After all, Dean had his moments where he seemed not to care about Sam too, Season 5 at the end of Episodes 1 and throughout various spots in Episode 2, then of course Episode 3 and let us not forget the heart-shattering moment where Dean threw away THE AMULET in Season 5 Episode 16 "Dark Side of The Moon." or how Sam looked like a kicked puppy when that happened ...) … and then Sam managed to keep control of his body long enough to throw himself, Lucifer AND Michael into The Cage (thus saving THE WORLD)… and it was one of the show's MOST BEAUTIFUL moments EVER… Well, what if 'The Mark' does drive Dean into trying to kill Sam?... Hmmm… What if indeed?...

Basically the whole PLOT of this is, is that Dean suddenly becomes very aggressive towards Sam, winding up with Dean actually trying to kill Sam and how, despite everything 'The Mark' is driving Dean to do, despite everything going on between him and Sam, somehow, BOTH brothers are going to get out of this situation ALIVE, still intact (although, one of them will probably be a little worse for wear) and potentially with a stronger bond than they have EVER HAD…

ANYWAY… The story sort of starts off right in the middle of the action… I may write more Chapters that show like '24 hours ago' or something that shows what all led up to the events within this fic and I may write Chapters about what happens AFTER, but as it is, right now, I just wanted to type out this idea and put it out there for everyone to read if they wanted. I will accept constructive NON-Flaming suggestions for a Title to this story as well as suggestions as to where my readers would like to see this go, or suggestions as to how they think the whole mess that this story starts right in the middle of, might have started.. And remember, when I say this story starts right in the middle of the action, I do mean RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE…

Please read, enjoy and review!

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An onslaught of punches rained down on his upturned face, but he wouldn't raise his arms to defend himself… He'd rather die.

A vicious kick to his chest flipped him onto his back where his abdomen was stomped down on, cracking and even breaking his already bruised ribs. But he wouldn't curl into a ball to protect his midsection, not even instinct could force him to do that, not when he knew that he'd already lost. Lost everyone and everything he's ever dared to care about.. Not when every single hope he's tried to keep burning inside himself has been snuffed out.

He wouldn't say a word in protest to what was happening…. He believed that he deserved this and worse… He had failed… he had failed to ever really save anyone he had ever cared for, no matter how hard he tried, he had and always would fail… He had failed and would always fail to save his brother… He wouldn't plead for his life... No… If he was going to plead… He would plead that it end here, and finally, finally be irreversibly over and done. That his life would finally be over and done and that this time it be made to where nothing and no one could ever bring him back… But he didn't have the energy to even ask for that and it seemed so pointless to even try. It's not like he would actually ever have a real say in the matter of his own life, or death, anyway. ..

So he just laid there allowing himself to be pummeled and kicked around like a lifeless ragdoll.

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'The Mark' it had been burning for some time, causing him to be so irritable… And then it had steadily gotten worse… Going from irritability to aggression… Aggression to violence… Violence to unfathomable, murderous rage that made him blind of everything, unfeeling of everything, but the burning desire to kill… And it had drug him in so deep that he didn't even realize, maybe didn't even care, when he began to target his own brother…

All he could feel was the satisfaction as his brother's blood splattered over his skin like a gory rain, as his brother's bones snapped like dry twigs.

And Sam.. He hadn't even tried to fight back… Why?... "Why?" a voice whispered sounding like his mother's Sainted memory … Why wasn't Sam even trying to fight back?

'The Mark' burned more intensely, searing away his ability to think on anything but the unstoppable drive to… Kill… Just kill… Kill his brother… Kill Sam.

But as hard as it tried, the haze of rage, the inherent, inexplicable yet undeniable drive to murder his brother, could not keep its hold against the unbreakable pillar of something stronger… It could not keep its hold when beating against the strength of a parent's love….

Cain may have been swayed into killing his own brother and that same drive to murder one's sibling may be the price of 'The Mark'… But no matter how strong that drive 'The Mark' could not force a man to murder the child he had raised on his own… It could not force a father to murder his son…

The second that realization hit him, he felt the drive of 'The Mark' the Curse of 'The Mark' loosen its hold on him, ever so slightly, but it was still clinging tightly enough to force him into still doing damage to the prone body before him.

The frenzy, the need to kill was beginning to sorely test the bonds that had already been fraying for some time. The drive to kill was making a strong, rallying come back, when…

The older brother grabbed his sibling's longer hair, exposing a vulnerable expanse of throat… There was temptation… Oh, the temptation was too great and in a blink of an eye, the drive had pushed him and now he had a dangerously sharp blade pressing against his younger brother's jugular.

He was pressing just hard enough to make his brother feel the bite of the blade, he wanted, needed to see the realization of what was about to happen flooding his younger brother's eyes… He wanted to see Sam's fear… But all he saw was resignation and sorrow and it sickened him!

He dug the blade in just a little deeper, drawing blood… He was ever so fascinated by how red it was, how pure and normal it seemed, but he knew that was a lie, his brother's blood hadn't been pure since he was six months old.. It was all deception! It was all lies! The blood trailing down his brother's neck wasn't the blood of a human… Wasn't the blood of his brother… It was the blood of a MONSTER!... he had consorted with the devil, he had opened the gates and let 'The Serpent' free into the world of man! It was a MONSTER and it had to be killed!

He took in an exhilarated breath… It felt so good to be free as he watched the blood oozing sluggishly down the monster's throat, trailing down to a thin, black leather cord adorning its neck.

Wait… Since when did Sam start wearing a necklace?... The sudden thought threw both him and the drive of 'The Mark' off kilter, but only for a moment.

Morbid curiosity overtook him and he just had to see what sort of trinket the monster had around its neck.

He ghosted his fingers along the leather cord in an almost reverent caress and as he reached where the rest of the cord was hidden underneath the blood soaked fabric of Sam's shirt a hand, with a stronger than expected grip, lashed out and grabbed his wrist.

Turned out Sam did have the strength to beg after all. "Please." he choked out hoarsely "You can take everything else… Just leave that alone."

Well, now that made Dean really curious and the thought of making Sam suffer seemed to please the drive of 'The Mark', so he couldn't resist in fishing the rest of the cord out of Sam's shirt… But when he saw what was tethered to that cord, he dropped it and released Sam's hair as if burned and hastily backed away..

It hung there silently hurdling accusations at him, calling him a failure… Telling him how weak he was... How weak he would be if he let the evil drive of the mark on his arm win… And then it all crashed into him like a tidal wave…

Memory and emotion after memory and emotion just kept pelting him… Brother, father… Mother… He was all three and yet he would be nothing if he failed Sam now.

The prone body before him… It wasn't a monster… The blood on his clothes, the blood that would forever be staining his skin, wasn't the blood of a monster…

It wasn't the blood of his brother…. It was the blood of his son…

"You're not his father." A sinister voice whispered in his mind and it seemed to be emanating from 'The Mark'.

"No… I'm not his father." Dean whispered "But I'm the only mom and the only DAD he's ever known and you can't make me hurt him anymore."

"Pity.." The voice whispered "You showed so much potential." then the burn began to lessen and 'The Mark of Cain' began to fade… He realized that he had lost his only viable weapon that he knew for sure would defeat Crowley, but suddenly that didn't matter… He would just have to find another way to kill the son of a bitch. But, later… Right now there were more important things that required his immediate attention and the first one was the burning need to take care of HIS KID.

He started to slowly move towards Sam and tried not to feel hurt by the fact that the resignation and sorrow seemed etched so much deeper into Sam's soul than it had only seconds ago… His younger brother's breathing sped up slightly as he closed one hand over the only thing that he seemed to think was worth protecting…

When he started to try to pry it from Sam's hands he had to fight back tears as Sam whispered in a broken cry "Not this… Please, not this." and when he freed it from Sam's weakening hold the younger man let out a mournful sob as he begged "Please don't throw it away again."

And it was like being hit in the stomach by a freight train to listen to Sam sounding so broken, because of him.

"Hey." He whispered as he tried to get the wild gaze of Sam's eyes to meet his own "Look at me."

Apparently his kid brother couldn't fight even just this one thing even if he wanted to and he locked eyes with Dean and only now was there a hint of fear as he pleaded one more time "Anything, burn it with my body, burry it with me, just don't throw it away again."

Dean used his free hand to cup the side of Sam's battered face as he used the other to slip The Amulet over his head and brought it to rest back where it belonged, where it had always belonged as he whispered "It's not going anywhere, little brother. Not ever again."…

Yes, he had lost 'The Mark of Cain' as well as possibly the only weapon that could kill Crowley. But he had regained something so much more important…

Something he hoped he could someday help Sam to have faith in again… But until that day, he would spend his every waking moment helping his brother climb out of the pit of despair that he himself had helped bury the kid in.

He had finally remembered who he was and what he was and who and what SAM was to him and that was more powerful than any 'Mark' or weapon could ever be and he wasn't going to let himself forget that ever again. And he wasn't ever going to give Sam a reason to doubt in that ever again…

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A/N:… Let the suggestions and the reviews flow freely so long as they are serious, constructive, polite and NON-FLAMING suggestions and reviews…


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